-.50 is short sightedness or long. In either case, shall a person put specks while working on a computer?

It's called Myopia or near-sighted. This is a distance prescription so your near prescription shouldn't be affected, so there would be no need to acquire computer glasses. But you might benefit from distance glasses. Although the prescription is incomplete, I couldn't really tell you what exactly would be the best option as far as glasses. But that's what Opticians are for. Go to your local glasses shop and look around and ask questions.

-.50 is shortsighted.. or nearsighted or myopia.. meaning the person has a slight power to help them see into the distance... less than -.50 is -.25 and less than that is zero(no glasses needed). So if your wearing them while doing upclose work and it doesn't bother you (headaches.. blur vision etc.. ) then you can leave them on.. most people would prefer to leave them off for upclose and in this power range use them more for night time driving or movies or watching a hockey game etc...
Have fun